Timeline: Dad gets his due on Father's Day

Anna Jarvis, the woman behind Mother's Day, the holiday that inspired Dodd, began her national crusade for the women's holiday in 1907. Her portrait is pictured on the right, at the International Mother's Day Shrine in Grafton, W.Va., in 2008. Cindi Mason, left, was the director. PR Newswire

Moved by Jarvis' struggle to promote Mother's Day, Dodd embarked on a rigorous campaign to honor fathers. One of the first Father's Day celebrations was held in 1910. Dodd died at age 96 and a monument at Riverfront Park in Spokane, Wash., was constructed in her honor. Jeff T. Green, AP

Dodd may be credited as the founder of Father's Day, but the town of Fairmont, W.Va., claims to have hosted the first Father's Day celebration. The town honored fathers during a memorial service for more than 360 men killed on July 5, 1908, in the worst coal mining disaster in U.S. history. Denny Gainer, USA TODAY

President Calvin Coolidge, pictured in an oil painting by Guido Boerthe, was the only president to be sworn in by his father. He recommended in 1924 that Father's Day be observed by the nation, but stopped short of issuing a national proclamation. J. Scott Applewhite, AP

In 1926, the National Father's Day Committee met for the first time in New York City, and they're still going strong. More than 70 years later, the committee presented racing champ Mario Andretti, left, with a "Father of the Year'' award in 1997. File photo by Marty Lederhandler, AP

Despite the resolution, the holiday was still not taken seriously, according to the Smithsonian. In 1957, Maine Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, pictured here in 1964, wrote a letter to Congress saying that America should "honor both our parents, mother and father, or let us desist from honoring either one." AP file photo

Soon thereafter, in 1972, President Richard Nixon signed the day into a national holiday to be observed every year on the third Sunday of June, just weeks after Mother's Day, which is held in May. AP file photo

In 2011, consumer trends by the NRF showed Father's Day spending reaching more than $11 billion, with Americans shelling out an average of $106.49 for dear old dad. That same year, President Obama spent his Father's Day visiting the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral with family. Charles Dharapak, AP

Today, Father's Day is celebrated all over the world. In Germany, for instance, it is tradition for groups of men to get together for a hiking tour accompanied with small wagons filled with beer and food. Peter Kneffel, AFP/Getty Images